3/12/2008

The Bush/Clinton Economic Meltdown...is Coming

The George Bush and Bill Clinton failures on Oil dependence is coming home to roost. Hey Hillary Clinton, will you take responsibility for dropping that ball - as part of your 35 years of experience? Gas costs are now going though the roof, and there’s no going back. Oil is at a record high, about $110 a barrel.

The costs of all food, goods and services are about to skyrocket, while China and India gobble up more oil than ever expected - the economic meltdown is coming.

Some call it “Peak Oil”.

Imagine the added cost of Gov. Perry's and Sen. Watson's overinflated tolls added to our freeways, so their special interest pals can continue to profit, while our famalies keep paying more.

From the Washington Post:

“...."We're hurting in this thing, and it doesn't look like there's any end of it," said Ralph Bombardiere, executive director of the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops. "It looks like it's heading to $4" a gallon.

Bombardiere, who said members of his group of small service stations
were having trouble raising pump prices fast enough to keep up with rising wholesale costs, added: "As the price goes up, it becomes a concern for us. We're the last line. We're the guys you face."

An opinion poll conducted in early February by the Pew Research Center
for the People and the Press showed that 35 percent of Americans named the rising price of gasoline as the economic issue that worried them most. In the same poll, 60 percent of those surveyed said it was "difficult" for their families to afford gasoline. Since the poll was completed, retail gasoline prices have risen 24.7 cents a gallon.

The prices of other petroleum products are also soaring. Diesel fuel,
usually cheaper than gasoline, is now more expensive. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said the average U.S. price of diesel was $3.819 a gallon in the week ending yesterday, up 53.9 cents in just four weeks. Heating-oil prices are also at all-time highs, up more than a dollar a gallon over the past year.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would assume that by 2080 we'll be knee deep in alternative fuels and electric cars (hopefully).

The environmentalists have also played a part in stiffling America's ability to obtain oil. At some point we will have to start drilling in Alaska and further out into the Gulf Of Mexico.

Anonymous said...

It's not just oil that's needed- it's refineries. But, refineries are dirty and dangerous. Nobody wants one in their backyard. Nobody wants their kids to have leukemia, cancer, etc. We still need refineries to make plastics and pesticides even if we cut back on oil for transportation. The best solution would be more efficient and reliable public transportation.

Anonymous said...

Wow - you guys are uninformed.

There's no money in refineries (and no reason to build one), because oil is running out and to build one would be a losing proposition. Oil production will PEAK, get it? What will the refineries refine?

And - there's no real oil in Alaska, maybe enough for the US for a year. Big whoop.

And, well before 2080 the peak will occur, it may be ocuring now, and prices will start to take off. It currently takes 10 calories of oil to create 1 calorie of food. What do you think will happen when prices double? Triple? 10x? What do you think those hungry people will do? How many recessions in a row would you need to see before you said there really is a problem?

The real thing we really have to worry about is ignoring the problem - especially when it's by people in power. We have the cheap energy resources now to make a change and build sustainable infrastructure, but that probably won't happen. Instead, we'll just gobble all the oil up and take a nice long nap. Maybe we'll think back on how we wasted the greatest gift in the natural history of the planet, but more likely we'll find someone else to blame for our troubles.